Oh to be…

Oh to be your compassion when you comforted the saddened boy “Ya aba Umayr mā fa’alan nughayr?”
And your kindness when you embraced and played with Hasan and Husayn
To be the reddish black kohl with which you lined your lustrous eyes
And your empathy when you shortened the prayer upon hearing a child’s cries
To be your humour when you jokingly offered Zahir as a slave you would sell
And your tears when you embraced your beloved son Ibrāhim farewell
To be your valour when you fought fearlessly at Badr, leaving them bewildered
And your love when you kissed Fātimah as into your presence she entered
Oh to be your mercy when you forgave those who swooped down to attack you from Tan’īm
And the thorny tree which you took shade under from the sun’s glaring beam
To be the bed of animal skin stuffed with palm fibre upon which you lay down to rest
And your hospitality when you offered the little milk you had to guest after guest
To be the sand that trickled through your silky soft hands, from the Arabian desert
And your benevolence when you shrouded the leader of the hypocrites in your own blessed shirt
To be the stick from the arāk tree with which you brushed your teeth, so bright
And to be your striped red garment,
O one more resplendent than the moon on the 14th night

-Asmaa.

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